Tuesday, July 26, 2016

I turned 40 yesterday. I decided to go for a long run...40 miles gives you a little time to think. So here are a few random thoughts from a guy who has been on the Earth for four decades and a day and has enjoyed his stay considerably.

1. I don't know shit.

I really don't. None of us do. I've read things like "the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know"...I like to think of it more along the lines of "we're all dumb, some of us are just less dumb than others." If you think you know everything, smack yourself a couple of times.

For example: "I can't feel my face when I'm with you"...what does that even mean? I got nothing.

2. Don't take yourself too seriously. No one else does.

I've learned this one from looking at old race photos. Every one tries to take such bad ass race photos...and then one day you realize that you're just wearing spandex and playing games with a thousand other people wearing spandex.

3. Life's not fair...but it's still good.

4. Don't be afraid to suck.

Think of all the people you know that you think are "good at everything"...they aren't really. They are just willing to try pretty much anything.

This is debatable, until you think about the wording. Eat. Well. Enjoy.

PS: And don't eat anything you can't pronounce. Except quinoa. Eat the hell out of that.

7. Whatever you decide to be...be a good one.

I think Lincoln said that...but he also said "Never trust anything you read on the internet"...so sometimes I don't know what to believe. Point is...if you're going to be make donuts for a living...be the best god damn donut maker you can be. (Unless you're going to be a Hitler. Be a bad Hitler.)

8. Be a good friend...the world needs lots of those.

9. We don't know everything.

This is different than number 1. This is perspective. And the fact of the matter is, you rarely (if ever) have enough information to make a truly informed decision regarding other people. So don't assume that you do. Don't live life on the default setting that you are the center of the universe and that you know, with absolute certainty, everything. Don't believe me...go watch This Is Water

I'll stop there because 9 is a perfect square. So I ran 40 miles...much of it through the first dark hours of being 40 and that's what I thought about. It was pretty dark running through the woods and it made me think of the quote my dad sent me the day before my birthday. "When we stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back." He commented that it was indeed a deep thought and left me to consider it. Running through the woods that night with only my head lamp it was really quiet dark and lonely. At times, it really looked like I was staring into "nothingness"...as the sun came up the next morning, the trees, hills, and animals emerged, and I realized that all that "nothingness" was staring back at me as well.

40 is just a number...and I decided to run over the hills instead of "be" over the hill. #carpediem Thanks to my wife for letting me do yet another stupid thing. Thanks to my girls for looking at me like I'm pretty cool. Thanks to my dog for being my wingman. Thanks to all my friends and family who are really the ones who taught me all the things I wrote above. And thanks to Tailwind and Nuun for fueling the night. And my Salomon friends for loving my feet like they do.